Adler’s radio sounded. “Uh, excuse me, sir.” He got up and gave an ‘uh-oh’ kind of look to Grant. He started reaching into his jacket, as he was heading for the door. Grant’s eyes stayed with Adler until he was out of the room.
“Captain?”
Grant snapped his head around. “Yes, sir?”
“Care to tell me what you have in mind?”
“Gonna do a recon of that area, sir. Shouldn’t take long.”
“I can contact the RAF at St. Mawgan. Maybe they can fly… ”
“Not necessary, sir. We have a chopper standing by. Unless you have anything else, sir, I guess we can end this meeting. Oh, one more thing. Joe and I are staying at the EOD barracks.”
Townsend thumbed through his notes. “So you’re not at the Atlantic anymore?”
Grant shook his head, still watching the door, when it opened and Adler motioned for him. He extended his hand to Townsend. “Good to meet you, sir. Will be in touch.” Just as he got to the door he turned around. “Did you ever get a report from the M.E. on that body brought to the harbor, sir?”
“Nothing yet.”
Grant nodded, then left, chasing down Adler in the corridor. “What the hell happened, Joe?” he asked just above a whisper.
Adler pushed the door open. “Tell you outside.”
Walking away from the building, Grant put on his cap then grabbed Adler’s arm. “Tell me.”
“That was Chief Becker. Petty Officer Weaver went to pick up the commander at 0700 but… ”
Grant slammed his fist into his palm. “Goddammit!”
Chapter 16
With tires squealing, and a plume of smoke spewing from the tailpipe, the MG sped out of the parking lot. The sports car fishtailed when it hit the street.
“Call Becker!” Grant said angrily. “See if they tried phoning the house.”
“Where’re we going?” Adler asked getting ready to make the call.
“Henley’s. We’re gonna take a look ourselves.”
Adler was on the radio. “Chief, Lieutenant Adler here. How long did Weaver wait at the house?”
“Twenty minutes, sir. Then he radioed me. I had him wait another twenty minutes just in case, sir.”
“Have you made any more phone calls to the house?”
“Yes, sir. Every ten minutes but still no answer. What do you want me to do, sir?”
“Stay close, Chief. Call us if you make contact with the commander. We’re on our way over there. Out.” Adler switched off the radio. He looked across at Grant, already anticipating a reaction. “Becker said they’ve been calling every ten minutes.”
“Fuck!” Grant shouted, smacking his fist against the steering wheel.
“Looks like the commander may have done your job for you, skipper.”
Grant snapped his head left, giving him a quick glance. “What?! What are you talking about?!”
“Looks as if he may have relieved himself of command.”
As pissed as he was, and the longer he drove, the more Grant questioned. Had he put too much pressure on Henley? Had he fucked up the situation from day one? Or did Henley fuck up himself? He’d never been honest with Grant. And as much as he seemed to want to protect his wife, he went about it absolutely the wrong way, probably putting her, and himself in more danger.
Grant shook his head, trying to clear the jumble of questions. He had to refocus. That was becoming a problem.
“Here’s the park, skipper,” Adler said, breaking into Grant’s thoughts.
Grant turned onto the road leading to Henley’s street and started slowing down. “We’ll park here and ‘hoof’ it to the house.”
He got out of the car and looked overhead, feeling raindrops on his face. Weather wasn’t going to interfere with whatever they had to do.
Adler came around the front of the car. “You want me to scope out the neighborhood?”
Grant nodded. “Hate to risk it, but if you see any neighbors, ask some questions. I’ll start checking around the house.”
“Here,” Adler said, reaching into his pocket. “Don’t know if these’ll work on those locks, but no harm trying.”
Grant took the small leather case and slipped it in his jacket. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Adler started walking down the street, looking for anyone to talk to. No one was outside, but he noticed an older woman standing in front of a large plate glass window. She backed up seeing him look her way.
Going to the front door, he knocked on the glass. The woman came to the door but didn’t open it. He gave the best smile he could muster, as he tipped his cap. “Morning, ma’am. How are you today?” She just looked at him, without responding.
“My friend and I are visiting Newquay for a couple of days, ma’am. The Henleys are friends of ours,” he said as he pointed down the street. “It was going to be a surprise visit.”
She unlocked the door. Opening it part way, she held onto it with a frail, wrinkled hand. “How lovely. Are you American?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you came all the way from America?”
“Yes, ma’am. We did. Would you happen to know where they are?”
“Oh, no. I’m afraid not,” she answered, brushing a strand of gray hair from her forehead. “I don’t know where they went in that vehicle. It was so early this morning when they left.”
“You saw them leave?”
“Well, I don’t sleep very well, and I just happened to be in the living room. It was still quite dark. There weren’t any lights on in their house or the vehicle so I couldn’t entirely see… ”
“Was it their car, ma’am? Did they leave in their car?”
“Oh, no, no. It was something bigger.”
Adler’s heart thumped. “Did you see if there was anyone with them?”
“There may have been, but I’m not sure.” She drew a knitted white shawl around her shoulders. “Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?”
Adler smiled. “I’m afraid we don’t have time, but we’ll try to come back later. I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me, ma’am.”
As he turned to leave, she gave a small wave. “It was lovely chatting with you, dear. Cheerio!”
He ran across the street, but not seeing Grant, he called, “Skipper?” Grant poked his head around the side. Adler waved him toward him. “It’s okay, boss. I told the neighbor we were paying a surprise visit on the Henleys.”
As Grant started toward Adler, he pulled his jacket down over his holster. “Find out anything that’ll help us?”
“Yes and no, but think we’d better move out.”
They started walking toward the MG as Adler relayed his conversation with the neighbor. Not wanting to attract any additional attention, they immediately got in the car. Grant started the engine, turned on the wipers, then swung a U-turn.
Not finding the Henleys left them with two questions: Were they forced into the vehicle, or did they go willingly? In either case, they had to track them down. But with so much ground to cover, Grant and Adler couldn’t do it alone. Grant headed back to Newquay, and Chief Inspector Townsend.
Adler finally asked, “When you gonna let the admiral know?”
“He’s next.”
“The two of you sure have been chatty this op.”
Grant gave a slight nod before saying, “Christ! Just think of the shit Jack’s got in that brain of his.”
“Yeah. The knowledge to disarm every known weapon on earth.”
Both of them went dead quiet, until Grant finally said, “It’s making me sick, Joe. I wanna believe he’s innocent, but… ”
“But he hasn’t given us anything to prove it.”
The implications were overwhelming. A U.S. Navy officer. Traitor? Innocent victim? Dead? Alive?
Grant pulled into the police parking lot, shut off the engine, then sat quietly for a moment before turning to Adler. “I’ve gotta give him a chance, Joe.”